Facilities

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Facilities

Creating World-class Learning Environments in a Truly Global Setting

Technology & Facilities - $15 Million

Thunderbird's unique environment on campus – a cultural melting pot – has developed as a result of uniting many people with diverse cultural backgrounds. It is through this global environment that T-birds learn firsthand about the world and its differences from faculty, the curriculum and each other.

Thunderbird's unique setting fosters a holistic approach to learning, where students build lifelong relationships with faculty, fellow students and alumni from all over the world. This unparalleled business network requires new technology to connect globally-based students, faculty and alumni. For example, the Online MBA program brings students together from around the world with Web-based classes and interactive chats with classmates and professors. Enabling students to communicate and connect with each other mirrors the way global business is conducted in today's world – across time zones, borders and cultures.

When the school was founded, barracks were used as student housing. Later, the Yount Library on the Glendale campus was retrofitted as a distance learning center. Over the years, Thunderbird has made the most of its facilities with minimal capital investment. Through ordinary facilities and extraordinary efforts of faculty and staff, Thunderbird has maintained its ranking as the leading school in international management.

The upgrades in facilities – especially at our campus in Arizona for classrooms, auditoriums, residences and lodging for corporate clients – and the improvements in technology necessary to accommodate planned growth require one-time investments of at least $7 million and an increase in our current capital expenditures by at least $2 million per year.

To recognize donors for their generosity and gifts to the campaign, campus buildings, classrooms or facilities will be named in their honor. The campaign goal includes $3 million for upgrades to the school's technology platform. Donors to the technology goal will be recognized through the naming of the supported technology. Donors of $1,000 or more are also recognized through membership in the Thunderbird Global Leadership Society. Members of the society are highlighted in the school's Annual Report to donors and are invited to special events hosted by the school.